Strangers
by Japanese Mew
Summary: As an American muggle living in England, Isabella was content with living the simple and quiet life of a Nurse. Unbeknownst to her, her life will take a turn when she accepts the responsibility of taking care of an amnesiac with a strange shaped scar on his forehead...
1. A New Responsibility

**I clearly don't own Harry Potter**

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**Chapter One**  
A New Responsibility

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"Bella, when are you going to get a love life?" My best friend, Sophie asked while we were sitting in the hospital's cafeteria.

I shrugged lightly, leaning back in my chair. "I can honestly tell you that I don't know," I replied, "when the times right, I guess."

"And when will the 'time' be 'right'?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"When the patients I'm assigned to, get better."

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a nurse, working in a hospital in England. I'm twenty-four, born and raised in America, and as you've heard from Sophie, I'm single, but that doesn't mean I'm searching. Its not that I don't want to find love, it's just that, there are more things I have to concentrate on, but of course, Sophie just doesn't want to understand.

"I'll take that as a definite no," she said, glaring at me playfully.

"Why are you suddenly interested in my love life?" I asked curiously.

She shrugged, "I don't know. I'm just tired of seeing you alone, I want you to be happy," she leaned forward, resting her check in her hand. "Can you blame me for worrying? You don't even date anymore, not since…" she drifted off, not wanting to mention my past.

"I know."

Sophie's my best friend; she's always looking out for my best interest, always trying to set me up on some blind date, even though I always tell her no. She's like my sister, only better because we hardly fight.

"Okay, okay," I sighed, "I'll…make an effort in finding some type of love life." I got up to throw away both of our empty trays of food. I could hear her excited squeals and clapping. "But don't blame me if I take forever." I chuckled, looking over my shoulder to see her expression, she was pouting. I just shook my head and walked out of the cafeteria, making my way towards the second floor.

It wasn't that I was picky about the people I dated. It's just that I rarely date, but I suppose, one day, I'll find that right guy. I'm looking for Mr. Right. Not Mr. Right now.

"Isabella" a voice brought me out of my thoughts. I turned around to see one of the older nurses standing behind me. "Dr. Martin wants to see you in room 213 right now."

I raised an eyebrow; "he wants to see me?" she nodded. "Oh… okay, thanks Jade." She nodded once more before returning to her post behind the desk.

While I rushed to room 213, I wondered what was so important. Dr. Martin rarely calls on me, I'm one of the new nurses, he usually calls on the nurses with a lot more experience. Maybe this one wasn't as important.

I opened the door to the room and found three other nurses standing around; they all turned to look at me, "you called for me?" I asked quietly, not wanting to disturb whoever it was they were attending to.

"Oh, Isabella, good you're here," Dr. Martin said walking towards me, his glasses hanging from the tip of his nose. He gently steered me towards an unconscious guy lying on a bed.

The patient was about 5'9, raven hair, male Caucasian, 20-25 years of age.

"They just brought him, badly bruised, burn marks on his arms, chest, and legs. He may have a concussion as well," he said examining the young man. He then proceeded to push back some of the patients hair away from his forehead to reveal a strange looking scar.

"Is that…is that a…?" I blinked, tilting my head to the side to get a better view of his scar. "It is, it's a lightening bolt, but how?"

Dr. Martin nodded while one of the nurses took notes.

"I've never heard of anyone getting a scar like this before." I said in disbelief. "Do you know how he got it?" I leaned forward and traced his scar, lightly, with the tip of my finger. "Does he have a name?"

"Harry," one of the nurses answered, "at least that's what it says on his shoe."

I turned to her, "on his shoe? I stopped writing on my shoes when I was ten."

She shrugged and went back to writing more notes.

"Isn't there anything else?"

Dr. Martin shook his head. "He didn't have any identification on him, no last name, no known relatives… just a first name."

"Okay…" I furrowed my eyebrows, "so, not to be rude, but why am I here?"

"He's your responsibility," he simply said. My jaw dropped. "You're to take care of him until he's properly healed."


	2. One-Sided

**Writing, why haven't I done this sooner?!**

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**Chapter Two  
**One-Sided

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Working as a nurse, was my dream growing up. Helping the hurt, healing the sick, and everything in between, but now, now I had my eyes on something else. I wanted to be a writer. I love to read even if I don't show it. I would rather be cooped up at home with a good book then be out on a date with some random guy.

I still enjoy working in the hospital, but things change over time, I suppose.

"Morning sunshine!" I greeted Harry, walking into room 213. "Still resting, I see. Lucky you, I had to get up at five in the morning today," I complained. "But that really doesn't matter, I like watching the sunrise." I walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains.

I turned to face Harry, or 'John Doe' as I sometimes prefer to call him, was healing exceptionally well. Like I told Dr. Martin earlier on in the week, it helps to talk to your patients if you want them to wake up, or heal faster. Well it hasn't been proven, but I think that comatose patients can hear people when they talk to them.

Harry's in a semi-coma, which means he can wake up when he wants, but it seems like he doesn't want to, he's been here for about two weeks now.

"You really should wake up," I told him. "Your family and friends must be worried sick about you." I grabbed his wrist to check his pulse, "normal…" I whispered, letting his hand go gently. That's one of the things I worry about when I'm attending patients, their family. I often wonder how they're holding up, and if they're okay as well. It's always sad to see them grief. I think I left a couple of time because I couldn't handle the emotional distress, and I could only imagine what Harry's family might be going through. "Poor things…"

I wonder where he got that scar from… I've never seen anything like it, and I've definitely seen some bad ones, but not ones in that shape. It looked like it could be self inflicted with a knife or something; then again, someone could have done it to him. "Either way it must have hurt."

From behind me came a knock at the door. "Can I come in?" I turned to see Sophie sticking her head into the room.

"Yea, just be a little quiet," I told her moving to the other side of Harry's bed.

"How is he?" she asked as her eyes wandered towards him.

"Fine, fine, I just wish he would wake up," I smiled sadly. "Can you imagine the fit his family must be having?"

She nodded, "he seems to be healing well though…" a small smile appeared on her face, "you know he's kind cute, without the bruises. What do you think?"

Sighing, I muttered, "only you."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I asked, how you are," I lied, trying to change the Harry subject.

She gave me a suspicious look, "fine I guess." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's good, how's Craig?" I asked while trying to change Harry's sheets.

Sophie laughed, "Here let me help you with that." She said after seeing how much I was struggling. "He's doing fine, actually."

Craig is her three year old son. His dad, David, sadly, died in a car accident two month before his birth. Sophie, of course, mourned his death. She was depressed for quiet sometime, but luckily for us, Craig came into her life, and she was able to move on. I admired her for that…she wouldn't give up on life or her baby. That's one of the things I love about her.

"That's good; maybe the three of us can do something soon." I offered, "a movie, maybe? My treat…"

"If you're buying, then it's a deal." She smiled widely. "But won't you have to take care of lover boy, here?"

I rolled my eyes. "How can you even joke about this?" I shook my head disapprovingly.

"Come on Bella, you like to read. Haven't you ever come across some book that has a nurse tending to a fallen soldier, they fall in love, and live happily ever after?"

"Oh yes, I've read plenty of those, but what you don't know, is that they have to go through a lot of obstacles to be together." I then added, "oh and Harry's not a soldier."

"But I mean C'mon, don't you think he's kind of cute?" she nudged me repeatedly.

"Stop that!" I swatted her elbow away, and looked at Harry, cocking my head to the side to get a better view. "He is…kind of." I admitted. I'm not going to lie, he's attractive.

"Oh my God!" she squealed. "You've got a crush."

"What, no! How can I like someone I don't know?"

"I don't know…I was just saying is all."

Only Sophie would find something romantic in all of this. The whole, walk on the beach, under a full moon was her ideal date. She always wished someone would sweep her off her feet, we never thought he'd be taken away in the end.

I laughed. "Shouldn't you be taking care of your patients?"

"Oh shoot!" she exclaimed smacking her forehead. "Mrs. Jenkins…" she ran out of the room in a hurry.

"That was Sophie," I said to Harry, "she's my best friend; you'll learn to like her. She's really nice once you get to know her."

I looked over to the window, and noticed that the sky was gray. "It's going to rain." I whispered. "And I didn't bring my car." I groaned, walking over to the window trying to close it.

I heard a groan from behind me, when I turned around, I noticed Harry had his fists clenched tightly. "You must be having a nightmare." I tried to pry his hands open. "Calm down…" I whispered soothingly, caressing his forehead, hoping he would calm down, but it only seemed to get worse. His breathing was uneven, his eyes shut tighter, and he was shaking slightly.

"I think I should get Dr. Martin," I said myself, letting go of Harry's hand, but it latched on to my wrist. Startled, I screamed, he opened his eyes.

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**Review?**


	3. One Out of Three

**Fitting title for the chapter, eh?!**

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**Chapter Three  
**One Out of Three

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Harry waking up out of nowhere scared the hell out of me. There were no signs of him waking up anytime soon, but then again, he was in semi-coma, I should have expected it.

Burying my face in my hands, and sighed. "God, Dr. Martin's going to think I'm incapable of taking care of Harry," I began to scold myself mentally and out loud. "Why did I scream?"

"Aw, don't worry, Bella," Sophie stood beside me, patting my back soothingly. "Anyone in your position would have screamed, hell…I would have screamed," she said jokingly, hoping to make me feel better.

I looked up, and smiled, showing her that she had succeeded, but it soon faltered when I saw Dr. Martin approaching us with a solemn look on his face. I stood up quickly, straightening out my uniform. "Is he alright?" I asked worriedly.

He nodded, pushing his glasses up with his index finger before answering us, "yes, but there seems to be a slight problem."

"What kind of problem?" Sophie asked for me.

"He has amnesia," he furrowed his brows, shaking his head slightly. "I was thinking I should have another nurse attend to him, I'm not quiet sure if you're ready for this type responsibility."

"N-no, I can do it," I told him, feeling hesitant. "I want this, I can do it."

Truthfully, I didn't know if I could handle such a huge responsibility, I mean, I've done enough research on amnesiacs, but I wasn't sure if I could actually help him.

"I'll go check on him right now," I added.

Dr. Martin nodded, "I trust you, Isabella. I know you'll do well," he smiled vaguely, "good day, you two." We nodded as he walked away, towards his office.

"Bella, are you sure you can do this?" Sophie asked looking apprehensive. "I mean, I know you can, but… you've never taken on anything like this…"

"I know, Sophie, I know, but…I want to, I want to help him," I said to her, but it felt like I was talking to myself.

"As long as you know what you're doing."

I nodded. "It'll be okay, I swear."

"Okay then" she nodded, "well, I'm going to go, I'll see you later," she smiled and walked off, leaving me in the middle of the hallway. I stood there for a few moments before making my way towards Harry's room, but before I did, I grabbed a tray of food for him, he might be hungry.

I entered the room quietly, and saw him sitting up, looking blankly out the window. I tilted my head to the side, feeling sad for him. He had no recollection of who he was or anything, I don't think I could handle something like that.

To make my presences known to him, I knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" it was stupid to ask, but it seemed polite, he might have wanted to be left alone. He shrugged, never looking away from the window. I stepped inside and placed the tray of food on the table by the bed. "I brought you some food, in case you're hungry."

"I'm not," he said, speaking for the first time. "I just want to get out of here."

I sighed, pulling a chair over to sit in, "look, I'm sorry. We're going to try and help you, but it may take awhile."

He turned to face me; it was then that I noticed the color of his eyes, emerald. I nearly lost my breath. "Who am I?"

"We only know your first name, Harry."

"Harry?" he repeated, "Harry…" the look on his face showed that he had no recollection of who he was. I smiled sadly, hearing him repeat his name a few more times before asking, "What's your name?"

"My name?" he nodded, "My name's Isabella Garcia," I outstretched my hand, "it's nice to meet you, Harry."

Surprisingly, he grabbed it, and shook it, smiling softly. "It's nice to meet you too," he let go after a bit. "What's going to happen to me?"

"I don't know. You'll probably stay here until you heal properly, and then we'll see where to go from there," while we spoke, my eyes wandered to the scar on his forehead. "But what I'd like to know, is where you got that scar…"

"What scar?" he asked, confused. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small mirror, handing it to him so that he could see what I was talking about. "What in the bloody hell?" he nearly shouted, "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Well, it's safe to say that its not new, if you look closely, it looks kind of…faded. You must have had it for a long time," I replied, watching him staring at the scar in awe. "But you know, amnesia is a hard thing to come by, you must have been in some accident to get it."

"What do you mean?" he asked, lowering the mirror to look at me.

"Well there are three types of amnesia: Antitrade amnesia occurs when a patient cannot retain any new memories. This type of amnesia usually occurs after a brain injury, which forms the cut-off point for memories." I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember the other two. "The second one is Retrograde amnesia is the case where, following a trauma, the patient is unable to recall important memories and information from before that event. The third, which I'm hoping you have, Transient global amnesia is so-called because it only lasts for a short period of time, but affects a large portion of past memories."

He blinked, "wow, I didn't know there were so many types of amnesia."

I laughed lightly, "try having to remember it all, it took me months before everything stuck with me completely," I placed my hand on his shoulder. "We're going to help you, Harry, don't worry."

He nodded, smiling at me gratefully as I stood up to go. I was nearly out the door when I heard him call out, I turned around. "I'm sorry I scared you."

I smiled, "its alright, I needed some excitement anyways."

"I…how long have- have I been here?"

"Two weeks," I replied, "I've been watching over you since they brought you in."

"You have?" he asked in a surprised tone. I nodded. "Will you continue taking… care of me or will there be someone else?"

"Someone else can come in, if you want."

"Yea, I want you to."

I nodded, smiling, "get some rest, Harry. I'll see you tomorrow morning, have a goodnight," I walked out of the room and shut the door behind me.

"So how is he?" Sophie asked, running up behind me.

"He's okay, sort of out of it, but I think he'll get better soon."

"So he doesn't remember anything…"

"Nada," I said shaking my head, "he's nice though…"

"So what did the two of you talk about?" she asked as if we were gossiping like high school girls.

"Typical things, how long he's been here, stuff like that." I put on my jacket, "and he asked if I was going to keep watching over him."

"And?" she asked excitedly.

"And I said yes." I smiled.

"So is he 'the one'?" she asked, using air quotes.

"Dear Lord, Sophie I hardly spoke to the guy so get off my back." I told her. "Must you always bug me?"

She just laughed. "Yes, and you know you love me for that."

"No, not really." I joked.

She scoffed. "Please…you'd be lost with out me…"

I smiled. "You don't know how right you are." I told her as I walked out of the hospital, and made my way home.


	4. An Offer

**Author's Note:** Yikes! It's been such a long time since I last updated, so I greatly apologize for this very late chapter! 

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**Chapter four**  
An Offer

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"Morning sunshine!" I greeted Harry merrily. He'd been awake for precisely two weeks now giving him a total of four weeks being in this hospital, and he was getting better by the day.

"Morning Bella…you seem to be in a good mood this morning." he observed with his green eyes sparkling as the sun shined through the window.

"Yes, I am…I'm going to the movies with my friend, and her kid." I told him.

"Your friend? Is it that woman with the brown hair?" he asked.

"Uh-huh, her names Sophie…" I set his breakfast beside his bed as usual.

"Is she your best friend?" he asked.

"More like my sister…I'd be so lost without her." I smiled.

"I wish I could remember if I had friends like that." he said sadly.

I walked over to him, and sat down by his bed. "I'm sure you have a ton of friends."

"You're probably right, but I just wish I could remember." he strained.

"Don't push it." I told him. "I'm sure you'll remember soon enough." He gave me a smile that could melt the iciest heart. I patted his knee softly. "Well I'm going to go, and check with Dr. Martin…I'll see you later." I told him standing up. "Oh, here take it." I handed him a piece of chocolate. "Eat…it'll make you feel better."

"Wait!" he grabbed my wrist. "What did you just say?" he asked.

"I said: eat… it'll make you feel better." I repeated. "Why?"

"Sorry, it just sounded familiar." he let go.

"It's okay… I'll be back later." I walked out the door. That was weird. Could I have said something that triggered a bit of memory? God I hoped so. "Dr. Martin!" I called out.

"Yes, oh Hello Bella, what can I do for you?" he asked smiling brightly.

"It's about Harry-"

"Harry? Oh yes, such a delightful young man…what about him?"

"Well you see he's been here for about a month now, and he's doing a lot better…what I'm trying to ask is, when will he be able to leave?"

"Actually he'll be able to leave whenever he wants." he told me.

"Where will he go…he still doesn't know anything about his past." I worried. "How will he survive?"

"Yes, I know…it'll be hard out there for him." Dr. Martin said sadly.

Then out of nowhere an idea struck me. "Is there anyway that he can come stay with me until he can stand on his own two feet?" I asked.

"If he agrees to it then yes, he can go stay with you." he said.

"Thanks Doc. I'll go tell him." I said as I walked off.

"Bella!" I heard someone call out.

"Hey Sophie!" I greeted as I saw her walking towards me.

"Hey yourself…where have you been?" she asked.

"I've been around." I began to walk towards room 213. "I've been watching over Harry."

"Oh…Harry." she said wistfully. "You two have gotten really close haven't you?"

"In away." I told her. "I am his nurse."

"Right…his nurse" she exaggerated nurse.

"So are we still up for movies?"

"About that…I cant." she said.

"Why not?" I asked disappointedly.

"David's parents are coming into town…"

"Say no more I understand." I reassured.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I know how much you where looking forward to the three of us going out."

"No, its okay…Craig barely gets to see his grandparents. It's okay." I smiled at her.

"Well, alright…I got to go." she said with a wave.

"See you later." I yelled to her.

"Bye."

When I walked back into the room I saw that Harry was standing by the open window. "Well Harry I've got good news, and I've got bad news…which would you prefer?" I asked as I sat down in a chair.

He looked over to me. "Hit me with the good news." he said as he walked over to the bed.

"Well, the good news is that you can leave whenever you want." I said happily.

"I can? That's great!" he was smiling ear to ear. "But where will I go?" his grin dropped.

"That brings me to the bad news. I talked to Dr. Martin, and I asked him if you could come stay with me at least until you're all better." I told him

His mouth dropped. "Is that the bad news?" he asked.

"Yes, you'll have to share an apartment with a 24 year old nurse who can barely keep up with her own life." I joked. "So yea, that's the bad news."

"Are you kidding me?" Harry asked. "That's the bad news?" I nodded. "It sounds more like good news, but I don't want to impose-"

"No, your not imposing…I'm inviting you to stay with me." I reminded him. "It's not like you asked."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive." I smiled.

"I'll pay you back when I can." he said.

"Harry its okay really you don't have to worry about money." I reassured him. "I cant- no I won't accept your money." I said firmly.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed.

"What?!"

"For a second- I thought-I saw-no, it was nothing." he finally said.

"What did you see?" I asked now curious.

"For a second you remind me of someone."

I raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "Well, it seems you won't have to wait long with your memory." I told him. "If I can keep accidentally reminding you of things, you'll remember everything by the end of the month."

"Let's hope so." he sighed.

"Well all I know for sure is that when we get out of here I'm buying you some new clothes." I then looked at his glasses. "And maybe some contacts seeing as how your glasses are broken."

Harry smiled. "You don't have too."

"Harry, I already told you I want to." I looked at my watch. "Well my shifts over so I'll come and get you tomorrow, is that alright?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yea, that's great." he laid back in bed. "See you tomorrow." I smiled and left almost running Sophie over.

"Whoa, sorry Soph." I apologized.

"So what's going on in the world of Doe?" she asked referring to Harry.

"Well I talked to Dr. Martin, and asked if Harry could stay with me until he was better." I continued. "And then I talked to Harry, and he's agreed."

The look on Sophie's face was priceless. Her mouth dropped, and her eyes widened. "Say what?!"

"Harry…is…coming…to…live…with…me." I said more slowly.

"I'm not slow Bella, its just wow... aren't you moving kind of fast I mean you hardly know the Guy." she winked.

"I can't believe your still on that whole 'soldier falls for nurse' thing." I shook my head. "Let it go girl!" I laughed.

"No, I will not rest until you see that you've got a great guy in front of you." she said.

"You don't even know him." I continued to laugh.

"I know, but you know me well enough to know that I'm a good judge of character." she stated.

"Okay tell me about him." I asked curiously.

"Well, he's suffered for one…probably lost a love one you can see it in his eyes, believe me I should know." she said sadly. "He's gone through a lot in life…people depend on him to much, and he's a loving guy."

I looked at her. "And how do you know all that?"

"It's in those beautiful green…sad eyes of his." she smiled.

"You're wise beyond your years." I said lovingly.

She sighed. "Don't I know it; I just hope some of it's rubbed off on Craig."

"So do I although it wouldn't hurt to have him look like his dad….those big brown eyes, and that shaggy black hair." I said dreamily.

Sophie's smile grew bigger. "Don't forget the dimples he has his fathers dimples." she added. I could see her eyes getting misty.

"Oh honey don't cry." I said as I pulled her into a hug.

"I can't help it Bella!" she cried into my hair. "I miss him so much."

"He's not really gone…he lives on in you, and he definitely lives on in Craig."

"God, your right look at me getting so worked up."

"Its okay I think you're entitled to cry as much as you want when you lose a loved one." I wiped away some of her tears. "Now you go on, and you say hello to David's parents for me, okay?" I asked.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." she said as she waved goodbye.

Now all I had to do was go to my flat, and clean out the extra room. It had belonged to Sophie, but she had moved out, and in with David. So it had been empty for about three years now. I smiled thinking that I was going to be able to help Harry more with his memories, I just wonder how things would work out in the end.


End file.
